Catching Smoke
by athena2517
Summary: Something's happened to Stayne, and the Kingdom is falling apart, Alice and Hatter are sent away from the action to battle the repercussions of this threat, while their friends deal with catching the culprit. There will be a companion fic to this later on
1. Chapter 1

Welcome back readers! This is the sequel to _I am Madness I am Love_, I hope you enjoy it!

Alice stood arm in arm with her betrothed, waiting for the arrival of the secret leaders of the resistance. Most were people she already knew, Chess, Mally, Mirana, and of course her Hatter, but some had been captured and held by the Red Queen. They were returning to Marmoreal at long last. Hatter was nervous, she could tell. He had known a lot of people that had been captured, and most of those who were captured, died. She squeezed his hand and he kissed her in thanks.

Mirana stood behind them, tall and pale. The former prisoners had started coming in a few minutes ago, they looked weary and all were injured. Tarrant hadn't reacted to any of them, so Alice guessed he hadn't seen anyone he knew yet. Before long the entire courtyard was filled with people, all scarred, but seeming happy at their freedom. Alice noticed that a large number of people were wearing a sort of uniform. It was a jacket that was black with white diagonal stripes along the arms, over a white shirt and black trousers, even some women, identifiable by the long braids they wore their hair in, wore trousers. Tarrant called greetings to a couple of these uniformed people, and they returned the greetings enthusiastically.

"Who are they?" Alice asked him.

"They are members of the White Queen's police force, they generally keep order in the kingdom. The lot of them joined the resistance, trained us all up for battle. These are the only survivors." He said sadly.

"Tarrant!" a young woman in a uniform yelled. She sounded happy even though her arm was in a sling and she had a limp. "I was made a full officer!" she seemed so excited that Alice had to smile.

"Congratulations Catherine!" Tarrant called back.

"You're not quite an officer yet." A woman said, she limped forward and returned the excited girl's embrace. The woman had short-cropped copper hair, her eyes were the lightest blue Alice had ever seen. Underneath the many scars that covered her face, she was very beautiful. Upon seeing her, Tarrant laughed.

"Helen!" he yelled. Her head whipped up, noticing him for the first time, and she ran forward and threw herself into Tarrant's arms. To Alice's dismay, he returned the embrace with enthusiasm.

"Tarrant you lucky son of a bitch! You did it! We won!" she cried.

"Downal wyth bluddy behg hid!" They yelled together. The crowd responded by yelling it back to them.

At this point, Alice was quite hurt at not being included and more than a little jealous about this woman whom she had never met. She seemed so friendly and comfortable with Alice's lover. Helen shoved Tarrant lightly and he returned it, Alice stood forgotten until Helen noticed her.

"Who's this, Tarrant?" Helen asked, Tarrant looked at Alice guiltily.

"This is Alice, our champion, and the woman I am to wed." he responded. Helen's mouth dropped open.

"You're getting married?" she asked in a state of shock. "To her?" she asked.

"Yes." Tarrant said happily. Helen's face turned serious. She walked over to Alice, and Alice was the slightest bit afraid. Helen's movements were smooth and deliberate, like those of a fighter; she also wore a wicked looking knife at her belt. Helen put her hand on Alice's shoulder and said clearly,

"My sympathies." A smile broke out on Helen's face and she dodged Tarrant's blow. Alice laughed in relief, and at the look on Tarrant's face.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, champion. Even more so that you are the one to finally find Tarrant's heart, where was it exactly, under the bed? In a teapot? You just never know when he's around. Would you mind if I introduced you to my comrades? They've waited a long time to meet you."

"Introduce me." Alice said gamely. Helen wiped the smile from her face and put up a perfectly bland expression as she faced the crowd.

"_Former_ prisoners of the bluddy behg hid! We have suffered and waited a long time for this homecoming. We have all fought, and lost much in this battle. I think it is about time we all thank the champion who killed the Red Bitch's worst weapon, Alice." Of course a loud session of cheering followed this statement. Afterwards, Tarrant put Alice's arm on his own and grabbed Helen's arm.

"We need to talk somewhere private." He said, and led the two away.

I apologize for the amount of information I just threw at you, readers. Next chapter will be better… maybe…


	2. Helen's story

Tarrant led Alice and Helen through the halls.

"Where are we going, Tarrant? I have to catch up with my men." Tarrant didn't answer. Helen pulled her arm out of Tarrant's grip.

"If you have something to talk to us about the resistance I should bring James. He's my second in command now." Tarrant looked confused.

"I thought George was in command."

"He's dead, he didn't last long after Stayne killed Quinn. Look, we need to explain this to Alice, we are being terribly rude." Tarrant nodded, they wandered over to a bench and Helen told her story.

_I was a little girl when my parents died, ad I was adopted by one of the White Queen's Officers, a man named William, and his wife Rose. I wasn't really too fond of Rose, but William was like a father to me. He would always tell me all about his job, and I listened so closely, that by the time I was old enough to follow in his footsteps and start officer's training, I knew a lot. _

_ I joined the Officers when I was fifteen, and Rose was not happy about it. Women who become officers are looked down upon, they are called whores and trollops and everyone thinks that all we do is sleep around and brainwash others into thinking we are better than we actually are. My best friend Quinn, her future husband George, and I quickly became "The Big Three." George was the best shot with an arrow you'll ever see. Quinn was the best Healer in the realm, and I am the best hand to hand and knife fighter. _

_ We were made officers pretty quickly. After a while, George became the leader of the Officers and called Captain. I became the trainer for all the little trainees that wanted to sign up. Quinn became the head Healer._

_ Well, after a while the Red Queen took over and the Officers were divided. There was a mutiny and the… others, tried to kill George. No Officers loyal to the Red Queen survived. That was the bloodiest battle of my life. All of us went into hiding; we were the heart of the resistance. One day, George decided that the trainees were grown up enough, and that the wounded were healed enough to take Salazen Grum._

_It was stupid, and I should have stopped it but we were so arrogant, so convinced that if we were strong enough to bring down other Officers, we could bring down the bloody big head. As you probably guessed, we were wrong, Quinn was killed within minutes of passing through the gates, trainees were being killed left and right by the card guards so we surrendered. From that time, until you slayed the Jabberwocky we were the playthings of Stayne and the Red Bitch. _

"That's a horrible story." Alice said. Tarrant was staring at the ground as if it was playing back the images of those days.

"Unfortunately, it's also true. That's why we're all so grateful to you Alice." Helen's kind eyes looked into Alice's. "You're the hero of heroes."

"What about me?" Tarrant asked, pouting.

"You are a madman and a brilliant leader." Tarrant smiled at the compliments. "You know Tarrant, that if you have something important to tell me, I have to bring James, he's my right hand." Tarrant picked up her right hand and studied it; she yanked it away, laughing sarcastically.

A tall man in the uniform walked up and saluted Helen.

"James, good." Helen said. "Do you have something to speak with us about?" She asked Tarrant.

"Stayne is alive." Tarrant said.


	3. Disturbing memories

James gasped and cursed, his voice growing louder and louder, he kicked the wall. James' reaction was the most noticeable, but Helen's was far more frightening. Her eyes glazed over, as if they were frozen. You could almost see her inner walls slamming back into place after she had lowered them with old friends. With her face perfectly blank, her voice dead, she asked, "Why?"

"Because I didn't kill him." Tarrant replied.

"Why?"

"Because he may be innocent." A ringing silence answered his words. Alice wrapped her arm around his waist, a comfort to them both.

"Explain." Helen ordered.

"I bested him in battle not too long ago, right after he left Salazen Grum, before you were freed. I was about to kill him when… it was like the darkness left him. His hair changed color, and it was like he exhaled smoke. Ever since he woke up after that, he's been different. He claims he knows nothing of what he did. So would anyone else, but Mirana seems to believe him."

"Take me to him, now." Helen ordered. Tarrant led them to the prisons, James followed close on Helen's heels like a puppy and Tarrant held on to Alice's hand as they descended. They arrived in the prison and a shadow in the corner stirred.

"Is there a light?" Helen asked. Tarrant lit some torches for her and she knelt by the bars. Ilosovic Stayne came forward as much as he could with the chains, into the light. His skin had paled from lack of sunlight, this hair had started to fade back to its original dark brown, and he was missing his eye patch. Helen looked him in the eye and asked,

"Do you know who I am?"

"No, should I?" he asked back.

"I don't know yet. What is your name?"

"Ilosovic Stayne. Look, I don't know who you are, but I'm not supposed to be here, I…" he trailed off with a look at her face.

"I don't know if it is you or not, but either way, these hands," she picked up his chained hands through the bars, "have done some truly terrible things."

"Do you remember anything, from this past year?" she asked

"No, not really. I-I remember being with my brother and his family and then, I don't know. But I have dreams, nightmares."

Helen sat back, looking thoughtful, James stepped forward.

"You don't remember? You took all those lives and you just _forget_?"

"James. Settle down." Helen ordered, but he was already gone, his eyes were bleeding into an uncontrollable red. James lunged at the bars, but Helen was ready, She threw herself up and forward until her shoulder hit James in the stomach, she pushed up with her legs and sent them both falling to the floor. She landed on top of him and shook him by the lapels of his coat.

"Second Officer James, listen the hell up! No one lays a finger on that prisoner until I say so, you hear me? If you can't handle it, get out. " James growled and stalked out of the room.

"I apologize for my second in command, he has a good heart and a better mind, but he tends to listen to his heart more than the brain. Where were we? Oh, yes. Look at me." Helen ordered the prisoner.

His one good eye met her two pale blue ones. She stared hard at his eyes and traced a scar that ran along her cheekbone.

"Do you know how I got this?" she asked him

"No." he said.

"Ilosovic Stayne, right hand to Iracebeth of Crims, the bloody big head, and Knave of hearts used it to mark me as his favorite toy for torture." Ilosovic looked close to tears.

"I didn't do any of those things, please believe me!" he cried.

"See this one on my jaw? Stayne gave it to me when I tried to break his knee after he killed a friend of mine. See this one on my forehead? Stayne gave it to me when I breathed too loudly. See this one on my wrist? Stayne gave it to me to se how much I would squirm. I didn't move, so he gave me ten more. See this one on my finger? I got that slicing bread, so don't worry about that one." Stayne had collapsed against the bars; he stirred a little at that last one. Helen took off her jacket and lifted off her shirt. She turned around in just her breast band and pants and said,

"See these on my back? Stayne gave them to me after I took out his eye with a sharpened piece of wood I found in my cell." Her back was a sea of whip marks, ridges of scars that covered her from shoulder to waist. Her body bore other scars, new and old, but she didn't point out any of them. She just got dressed and knelt in front of the bars again.

"If you are the Knave of hearts, I will find out, and I will kill you. If you are not, if you are just Ilosovic Stayne, you are as much a victim as I am, and you will help me catch that butcher." Stayne's single eye filled with a glimmer of hope, the trio of resistance leaders left.


	4. Boom

"What the hell was that Helen?" James yelled as soon as the trio was in sight. She gave him a look and sat down, massaging her temples.

"A conundrum, and not my biggest problem right now. We need to get the Officers corps up and running, the army has had enough problems, its time for a relief force. We lost three fourths of our men in the resistance, so I'm thinking recruitment might be a priority."

James groaned and Helen grinned slightly.

"That's right James, more little trainees running underfoot and screwing everything up, getting themselves into trouble and generally being very entertaining. Yes, you're getting one, no you can't kill them, and if you break them you're getting me a new one." Helen said, predicting all his questions. James snorted and walked away.

"It's good to be home." Helen said, looking around. "And even better to see old friends, and hopefully make new ones." She added, with a wink at Alice. As they walked out into the courtyard Alice heard James yell, "May I present the new commander of the Officer's corps?" with a gesture towards Helen.

"No! Nononononononono! Don't you dare!" she yelled, pointing at the officers in the yard, one by one they tackled her and dog-piled on top. They laughed and some rolled off the pile. When Helen was revealed again, she took in a wheezing breath and said, "Bloody barbarians."

Tarrant was caught in a laughing fit and Helen, grinning evilly said, "May I present thee leader of the resistance?" and Tarrant got the same treatment. After Helen and Alice extracted Tarrant from the bottom of the pile, they walked across the courtyard to show Helen to her new room.

"You're new home milady." He said, with a flourish at the door.

"Thanks Tarrant, you-" Then never got to find out what Tarrant was, a giant boom came from somewhere near and the three were thrown to the floor in a heap. Before Alice and Tarrant could react, Helen was up and running. Tarrant gripped Alice by the shoulders.

"Are you alright, Alice?" he asked, his eyes a light green from the shock.

"I'm fine Hatter, what was that?"

"I haven't the slightest idea." He said, giving her a hand up.

They went down the hall after Helen and came upon a startling sight, the hallway was gone. It ended in a pile of rocks and some flaming debris.

"Wh-What could have done this?" Alice said.

"All I could think of would be the Jabberwocky." Tarrant answered, his eyes were haunted with memories of Horunvendush Day.

"Do you think anyone was in this hallway?" Alice asked. She watched as Helen walked forward through the rocks, dodging flaming debris, and stood in the center of the wreckage.

"I think you should see this." Helen called. Tarrant and Alice helped each other scramble over the wreckage and stood with Helen.

"Look." She said, and the couple gasped simultaneously. The black burn marks and debris formed a perfect, pitch-black heart.

"The Knave." Tarrant growled.


	5. Running

Alice stumbled through the dark after her betrothed's fleeing back. His hand was grasped firmly in her own, her only lifeline. The bushes and trees tugged and tore at her clothes and she could hear the soldiers running after them. There was an almighty pull on her arm and she found herself falling into her love's arms. He held her to his chest and shoved them both into a hollowed out tree hidden in the bushes, his hand over her mouth. She could feel his heartbeat against her back and she gently pulled his hand away from her moth and held it as they hid in the dark, and those that would kill them streamed past in waves. She held back her tears of fear and thought back to how they ended up like this.

_They kept close to Helen's back as she elbowed her way through the guards and Officers. "Make a hole!" she yelled and the sea of Officers parted. She walked up to the bars of the prison. Stayne was still there. He was staring up at Mirana like she was a monster with five heads._

"_I don't know anything about what happened! I've been in here ever since I woke up!" Mirana looked down at him in disbelief. Alice could feel Tarrant shaking in rage as his eyes turned orange._

"_Tarrant, if you cannot control yourself, leave." Helen warned. "You are an asset to the White Queen's rule, but you can't help if you're senseless with rage." Tarrant's eyes slowly faded to yellow._

"_Your Majesty, if I may?" Helen asked. Mirana nodded. Helen knelt by the bars. "Have you any idea what just happened?" Stayne shook his head. "The Knave blew apart a part of this very castle. This is a declaration of war if I have ever seen one. Either you did this, and you need to be punished, or someone else did this and you need to be protected because you are the only person that has ever been inside his head." Stayne said nothing, just stared defiantly into Helen's gaze. _

"_Majesty, I would like to claim this prisoner as my own. He comes with me to the Officer's complex, he doesn't leave my sight until we learn more and take care of this threat."_

_Mirana looked at her, calculating. "You have never given me any reason not to trust your judgment, and you have led the corps well, even when you were not really in command. The prisoner is yours." Helen nodded in approval. "Thank you, Majesty." She said just as a frightened McTwisp came in, hopping at the speed of light. _

"_Majesty, scouts report that a troop of soldiers are on their way to Marmoreal!" Everyone started shouting at once._

"_Prepare the soldiers for battle, tell all citizens wanting protection to come inside the castle walls!" Mirana ordered._

"_Officers, on me! Go to the armory, get your weapon of choice, we guard the walls. Trainees, stick to your teachers. Instructors, its your decision if your student is ready for action. Make your choice and get your collective asses ready for battle!" Helen yelled in a voice meant to carry clean across battlefields. "We stand ready to defend your Kingdom Majesty." Helen said, and turned to Tarrant. "Feels good to be doing something again, to the good fight!" she said in salute and ran up the stairs, an adrenaline fueled smile on her face._

"_Come on, Alice." Tarrant said. He held out his hand and she took it, they ran up the stairs together. They ran up onto the top of the battlements of the castle, they could see in the distance the rows of soldiers; Mirana soon joined them._

"_There doesn't seem to be too many of them." Alice pointed out._

"_It's a test." Mirana explained. "To see how hard we are to beat."_

"_Let them come." Tarrant said, his accent showing through. "We may all be mad, but we aren't stupid, and we certainly aren't weak."_

_The battle lasted two hours; the white chess piece guards were more than a match for these soldiers, who appeared to be black colored card guards. The Officers in the battle were scattered. Some were on the battlements beside Alice, Tarrant, and Mirana. These were shooting arrows into the fray with deadly accuracy. The ones on the ground had everything from swords, to spears, to slings. Those who lost their weapons downed guards with just their bodies, the most deadly weapon they had. _

_The most startling thing was after victory was near. The few remaining card guards went perfectly still. They seemed frozen and Alice was able to hear a voice yelling for people to get back. From each guard rose a cloud of smoke, the smoke rose and formed a cloud, then moved away, flying away from Marmoreal with unnatural speed. _

"_What was that?" Alice breathed._

"_Something Mad." Tarrant replied, he squeezed her shoulder._

The next day word had arrived that more black card guards had been spotted in Snud, and Tarrant and Alice, along with Mally, Bayard, and two squads of pawns were sent to deal with the threat. It was only a few hours into Snud when they started encountering the guards, and there were more than they had expected. So now they were hiding in a tree, huddled together and praying that they all got out alive. All Alice had wanted was to live in Wonderland with a madman. Now she was deep into a war that had more questions that needed answering than reasons for fighting. The sad part was, that this wasn't nearly as terrifying to her as her suitors had been back home. _Well, _she thought, _I guess I really am mad. _She laughed silently, and even the Mad Hatter himself didn't know what to make of that.


	6. shadow man

Tarrant and Alice stood, pressed against each other in the dark as their worst nightmare happened. They had been sent to take care of the soldiers in Snud, and now those very soldiers were on their way to Marmoreal.

When they had been ambushed, they fought back, but it was no use. They thought they were only going to encounter a few scouts, a squad at the most. Alice had no idea how many there really were. They had continued to fight, but as the last chess piece guard was slain, Bayard had grabbed Mally by the tail and Tarrant had grabbed Alice's hand and they had all run. They had no hope against these numbers, none at all.

Somewhere in the woods they had lost track of Bayard and Mally. Alice turned silently and clung to Tarrant. She feared that she was being weak, but was reassured when Tarrant clung just as tight to her. She buried her face in his shoulder and he stroked her hair, as much to comfort himself as to comfort her.

After some time, it could have been an hour; it could have been a second, the sound of clanking armor stopped. Alice lifted her head and started to move toward the hidden opening to the outside world. Tarrant held her back. She took his hand and they both stepped out together. The woods were eerily silent. Not a thing stirred. They crept silently through the trampled brush.

"Mally?" Alice called softly. "Bayard?" She continued to call as they walked back to the ambush site. Suddenly, Tarrant clamped her mouth shut with his hand. They stood like that, barely breathing, until Alice heard it too.

"Hatter? Alice?" a tiny squeak of a voice.

"Mally!" Hatter said, his voice was filled with relief.

"Hatter!" Mally said happily, as he lifted her up and let her ride on his hat. Alice bent over and rubbed Bayard's ears.

"Where have you been?" Alice and Mally asked at the same time.

"We were hiding in a bush, not my choice, but Bayard stole my sword and pinned me with his paw!" Mally said, wrath in her eyes.

"We were hiding in a tree, that was my choice, I don't have a death wish. There was nothing you could have done Mally, there were too many of them." Alice said.

"We should go." Tarrant said, his accent creeping into his words. "Back to the clearing, where we were ambushed, there may be some soldiers still alive that we should try to take back to Marmoreal." Alice didn't know how two people, a dog, and a mouse were going to be able to carry any more than two chess pieces but she didn't argue, not when someone may need their help.

They walked into the clearing and a dark figure stepped out from a shadow, Tarrant, Alice, and Mally drew their swords. Bayard growled. The man was tall, not Stayne height, but nothing to scoff at. He had black hair and black eyes, and looked perfectly happy standing in front of four hostile individuals, in a clearing filled with corpses. At least, he looked comfortable as long as he had his long sword at his belt.

"Well, if it isn't two out of the three lunatics, a mutt, and my dearest Um. How are we today? Perfectly ghastly weather, is it not?"

"Who are you?" Tarrant growled, his eyes a bright orange.

"Oh, I'm sure you'll find out eventually. Where's the rush? I just wanted to bid you good day, and tell you that unless you return to your beloved castle at once, things are going to end very badly for you." He smiled tauntingly at them for a second. Tarrant stepped forward to meet him, sword in hand and the man leapt onto a horse waiting nearby, bowed to them from the saddle, and galloped away. Tarrant yelled in rage and started to take off after him, but Alice caught his arm.

"You'll never catch him, even if you did, it might be a trap." She told him.

"_Thank you… I'll stay._"

"What do you think he meant about the castle?" Alice asked.

"It was a threat, if we stay here he'll kill us."" Tarrant said.

"Or, it was a hint, that they are going to attack the castle." Bayard suggested.

"So, which one is it?" Mally demanded to know.

"There's no way of knowing for sure unless we go to the castle." Alice said.

"But what if it is a trap and they're planning something here?" Tarrant asked.

"We split up." Mally said, everyone looked at her.

"Right, Mally and Bayard, will you go to Marmoreal? Bayard travels faster with his four legs and Mally can be your guard. Tarrant and I will stay here and try and find out what that man is planning."

Mally nodded reluctantly and she and Bayard started their journey at once. Tarrant and Alice stood in the field, filled with their fallen comrades. Alice thought of the Frabjous day, and the battle that had taken place then. Tarrant thought of Horunvendush Day, and when his family was taken from him. She took his hand and looked him in the eye.

"Let's go be heroes." She said to Tarrant.

"Admit it, lass. You just sent them to Marmoreal to be alone with meh." Tarrant accused, in his sexiest accent. Alice laughed and they set off in the direction the shadow man had gone.

_**Another chapter down! Sorry it took so long, I was lacking inspiration. The next chapter will be put up sooner!**_


	7. You won't believe me

_**I know I'm a horrible person for making you guys wait so long! My summer assignments are trying to kill me! Forgive me? I'm afraid I'm going to have to disappoint you further and say that this is the last chapter of Catching Smoke, and the story will be continued in **_Fighting the Current.

Tarrant wasn't a soldier, he was a hatter. Until Horunvendush day, that's all he was. Now, however, he was Tarrant Hightopp, former leader of the resistance and, at the moment, expert tracker.

They had been following the tracks left by the man on he horse. A stream crossing and a set of false tracks had slowed them down. He seemed to be going in erratic circles, and Alice was growing weary. They had been at it for almost a full day, and the sun was beginning to set. Tarrant had noticed, too, and they had started to pick up the pace.

They slept in the woods, without a fire, and waited until dawn to set out again. Their opponent didn't need to be able to track anyone, so he didn't need to wait for the light of day. He took advantage of his new head start and started out on his true course.

The couple followed his last circle through the woods, and froze in horror as they reached the end, realizing his true goal.

"He's going to Marmoreal." Alice said. Tarrant said nothing, but took Alice's hand and set off towards their home.

…

Nothing could have prepared them for what they found when they finally arrived. Marmoreal was a ruin, burned buildings and trees, and crumbling walls filled their vision.

That was before they stumbled upon the bodies. There was evidence of a great battle. Card guards, chess pieces, and Officers littered the field. Alice had to look away before she was sick.

"Enjoying the view?" a weak voice asked. It was Helen; she was leaning against a crumbling wall. Dried blood flowed down in a fork from he temple where a large bruise was forming, and she walked with a limp towards them.

"What happened?" Alice asked, voice quiet.

"You won't believe me when I tell you."

_**Short chapter, I know, but I hope to have the first chapter of **_Fighting the Current _**up within the hour. Hope you enjoy.**_


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